1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a flat panel display device, and more specifically, to a flat panel display device mounting structure and a method of mounting the flat panel display device to a computer.
2. Description of the Related Art
Flat panel display devices include liquid crystal display devices (LCD) which are being used widely, plasma display panels (PDP), and field emission displays (FED) which have been studied recently and may be applied to computers in the near future. For convenience of explanation, the present invention will be discussed with respect to the LCD as an example of the flat screen type display devices and a portable computer mounted with the LCD.
Referring to FIG. 1, a general portable computer such as a laptop or notebook computer typically includes a body 100, a flat panel display device assembly 110 coupled to the body 100 via a hinge mechanism 124. The flat panel type display device assembly 110 has a flat panel display device 111 and a display case 122 supporting the device 111. The body 100 has an input device 102 such as a keyboard. As a flat panel type display device 111, the LCD is widely used in portable computers and flat screen monitors.
Referring to FIG. 2 which shows conventional assembly structure of the LCD device applied to a conventional portable computer, the display case 122 has a rear case 123 and a front case or frame 121 for mounting the LCD device module 130. The rear case or frame 123 has an outer surface and an inner surface and connecting ribs 123a are formed at the corners.
The LCD device 130 has an LCD panel 132, a backlight device 134 fixed to the back of the LCD panel 132, and a supporting frame 136 for assembling the panel 132 and the backlight device 134 along the edge.
At the corners of the supporting frame 136, corresponding to the positions of the ribs 123a of the rear case 123, a plurality of protrusions 136a having holes are formed.
For mounting the LCD device 130 to the case 122, the LCD device 130 is placed on the rear case 123 and the holes of the supporting frame 136 and the ribs 123a are fastened together preferably by screws 138. The front case 121 is coupled to the rear case 123.
Hereinafter, the way in which the LCD device is mounted to the case from the front toward the rear direction is defined as the front mounting method, and the assembled structure of the LCD device and the case formed through the front mounting method is defined as the front mounting structure.
In the front mounting structure of the LCD device, since the protrusions 136a require additional space corresponding to the protruded width d, the display area of the LCD device is reduced in comparison to the fixed size of the case 122.
The front mounting structure may also include an additional feature to further support the LCD panel, as shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B.
Referring to FIGS. 3A and 3B, a conventional LCD device assembly 110 includes an LCD panel 112 and a backlight device (not shown) for the LCD panel, and display case 122 supporting the LCD device 111. The LCD panel 112 and the backlight device are assembled by a supporting frame 114 along the edges.
The display case 122 is coupled to a body 120 via a hinge mechanism 124, which may extend from the body 120. The display case 122 and the hinge mechanism 124 are assembled through a hinge arm 126, allowing the display device assembly 110 to pivotally move with respect to the body 120.
Two opposite sides of the supporting frame 114 include flanges 114a for assembling the LCD device 111 to the display case 122, and corners include flanges 114b for assembling the LCD device 111 to the hinge arm 126. Hereinafter, the former is referred as a fixing flange and the latter is referred as a mounting flange in this specification for distinction purposes. As shown in FIG. 3B, the fixing flanges 114a have a protruding width d2 and the mounting flanges 114b have a protruding width d1. A screw hole is formed in each of the flanges 114a and 114b. On the inner surface of the display case 122, ribs 122a are formed corresponding to the holes of the fixing flange 114a. 
To mount the LCD device 111, the hinge arm 126 and the mounting flanges 114b are screwed together, and the fixing flanges 114a and the ribs 122a are screwed together by bolts 128.
In the mounting structure shown in FIG. 3B, the supporting frame 114 requires side spaces for the flanges 114a and 114b. Therefore, the side space D (d1+d2) results in a reduction of the display area of the LCD panel 112 relative to the display case 122. Moreover, as the display size increases, the display case becomes undesirably large, especially for a portable computer such as a laptop computer.
To solve the above problem and to provide a large display area with minimal display case size, a new mounting structure is needed for the LCD device.